CitySurfing Orlando

Visit Orlando CEO Gary Sain passed away on Friday night after giving a speech at a fundraiser. He was 61 years old.

You may not be familiar with his name, but Swain headed up the Orlando tourism board and was the man behind the popular “Orlando Makes Me Smile” campaign.

According to officials, Sain was one of the driving forces behind making Orlando the No. 1 family destination in the world since he took over the Orlando Tourism Bureau in 2007, renaming it Visit Orlando to help attract even more tourists.

Our condolences go out to the Sain family.

The city of Orlando raised its taxi cab rates by 9 percent as of Monday, April 23, 2012..

The city council approved the new rates which are now a base of $2.40 for the first quarter mile (up from $2.20) and 60 cents for each additional quarter mile (up from 55 cents).

It may seem like a small amount, but it does add up. For instance, a 10-mile ride via cab will now set you back $25.80 instead of $23.65.

Technically, the rate hike only applies within the city limits, but Mears transportation, which does a lot of Orlando airport to Walt Disney World passenger trips, says it will apply the new rates throughout the area to avoid confusion.

Isn’t that nice of them?

Anyways, if you need to take a cab anywhere within the city, be prepared to fork out a bit more to do it from now on.

Even though they had nothing to do with the current Trayvon Martin shooting controversy, local Sanford businesses are feeling the backlash just the same.

Many locals are refusing to visit these restaurants, bars and other shops, which had nothing to do with the shooting, not wanting to get caught up in the events happening in the wake of the shooting. To make matters worse, the Rev Al Sharpton has called for a boycott of local Sanford businesses.

It makes no sense to boycott local businesses because of the shooting. In fact, they need your support more than ever. WIthout customers, these local businesses have no way to pay their bills and employees stand to lose their jobs.

Do not let the shooting or Sharpton scare you off and please continue to patronize your favorite local Sanford businesses!

And if you haven’t been up to Sanford lately, the monthly Alive After 5 event is a great reason to go. It costs only $7 a person and is held in historic downtown Sanford. April’s theme is shrimp.

In town as part of the huge Harry Potter event at Universal Orlando this weekend, several of the stars from the HP movies visited a local WalMart to promote the release of the last movie on DVD.

The event took place on November 11, 2011, to promote the first day on-sale release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 on DVD. The stars signed autographs at the WalMart on Turkey Lake Rd, just south of Universal Orlando, for the hundreds of Potter fans in attendance.

From left to right in the photo:

• Devon Murray (Seamus Finnigan)
• Katie Leung (Cho Chang)
• Jennifer Smith (Lavender Brown)
• Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas)

Photo courtesy of Deb Silva. Do not reproduce without permission.

This weekend female artists from across the state will be in Orlando for the fifth annual Ella Music Fest.

According to organizers, Ella stands for elevate, listen, love and appreciate and the fest itself aims to celebrates Florida female artistry with music, visual art, poetry, and crafts.

In addition to a slew of musicians and visual artists, there will be a yoga session and a vendor area. The full schedule can be found online.

The 2011 edition of the festival takes place September 30 to October 2 at Orlando Brewing Company (1301 Atlanta Avenue), located just south of downtown, near the Orlando Amtrak station.

Tickets are $10 for a single day or $20 for a three-day weekend pass. All ages welcome.